14-part RepRap Saga draws to a close

Behold, another RepRap springs into existence! Well, springs might not be the best choice of words, it took a while and there were many bumps in the road. But [NBitWonder’s] self-built RepRap is now finished and you can read his 14-part build log to see all that went into the process.

We checked in on the project at one of the early stages. At that point he was just beginning to assemble the hardware and we mused that the calibration stage is where we thought things would get exciting. The project didn’t disappoint, as he had many follies getting the extruder heads to work. At first some issues popped up when figuring out what diameter filament would work for the print head he was using. Once that was worked out, a less-than-precise PID controller led to the clogging and eventual destruction of the extruder tip. He goes on to assemble and test a heated build platform only to discover that the resistors shipped with the hardware are shockingly underrated for the task. We could go on and on, but that would ruin the fun for you. Bookmark this one for the weekend and enjoy!

That is a 1st generation sells mendel, they are very complex compared to a Prusa. I have a sells mendel and it was a beast to assemble, but I enjoyed it. I have used my printer to print parts for several Prusas and they are MUCH easier to assemble.

wow. all that for a machine much less capable tan any of the alternatives, and likely with a higher cost in money and man-hours, and a higher carbon footprint too, since the point of these seems to be saving the world (well, actually just feeling smug about yourself by claiming it anyway). Nothing like mail-ordering all those manufactured components so that it can (snert) be self-replicating. BTW, How’s that ‘self-replicating’ thing going for you, anyway?

It’s ok, he suffers from UTD (Uninformed Troll Disorder). He doesn’t know that RepRaps are actually at the forefront of the design curve for DIY 3D printers. He doesn’t know that the MakerBot, and Ultimaker actually are forks from the reprap project. Or that they use the same firmware and electronics as the RepRaps. He doesn’t know that these are not only the most up to date, but the least expensive of the DIY FDM printers.

wow. interesting spin. if by ‘forks’ you mean ‘people who bailed out of your futile monoculture to go make projects that actually have redeeming or practical features’, then yes. as extrusion-based printing goes, ultimaker is showing its potential.

i would try to figure the origin of the ‘forefront of the design curve’ thing, but even immersed in the kool-aid you know that one doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Self replication is one of the main goals, it will progress after some time. Now I say that everything which makes sense to print is printed, rest of the HW stuff is easily buy-able locally. Higher rate of replication would now just slow down adoption rate or even stopped it totally.

When community will be saturated enough with printing printers, then we can move forward.

Ignore Stunmonkey. He’s a long-time Reprap troll that usually shows up for Reprap related comments (even across multiple different websites) to spit hit venom whenever a Reprap related post is made. I could have sworn I remember the Hackaday editors saying they were finally going to take responsibility for removing unproductive hate posts like this…

Lol. I comment on lots of things, usually productively. I think I can make an exception for the RepCrap cultists.

For many, many years I have worked on helping develop 3d printing and hobby-level motion control, as well as sustainable technologies. Many of us still work on these projects. I have had input on most of the units out there you see today, actually.
Many good projects are still out there, and as a hobby the rest of us are moving forward.
On the other hand, some time ago this weird little group became enamored with bizarre and unworkable ideologies and forgot the tech, or to even keep their minds open. The echo chamber effect and the orthodoxy drowning out of any new ideas meant they left the realm of remotely workable and became their own religion. They became a self-obsessed cult removed from the rest of reality, while development of their ideas stopped pretty much entirely. Any ideas who I might be talking about here? Enjoy your toys. The adults have work to do.

Stunmonkey is obviously, obviously trolling, but he has a point: I feel like the political ideology permeating the RepRap project (whether you agree with it or not) is kind of displacing the goal of affordable DIY 3d printing. I don’t want to barf a giant essay into a comment on HaD, I just can’t shake the feeling that reprap is putting the building-a-more-just-society cart before the make-it-actually-practical horse, and it’s frustrating to have the only people agreeing with me be trolls. : /